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Gannet
The Gannet is the name given to an amphibian aircraft which occurs twice in the Biggles interwar books but which may or may not be refering to the same aircraft type. In Biggles Hits the Trail, Biggles and Algy chose a "Gannet" amphibian nicknamed the Explorer for their expedition to Tibet with Dickpa. The type was described as follows: *had recently goine into production for the R.A.F. (1935); *all-metal construction *Two "Hercules" air-cooled engines; *Engines were mounted between the planes, one on either side of the hull; *Side by side seating for two pilots in the cockpit; *A low doorway gave access to a spacious cabin which contained roomy lockers. *In Biggles - Air Commodore, Squadron Leader Tom Lowery was flying a new Gannet flying boat from England to his sqaudron's base in Singapore when he was shot down and killed by a seaplane from a secret submarine base maintained by an Asian country in the Mergui Archipelago. There are no clues as to its appearance or characteristics beyond the fact that at the time of the events in the book, 1935-1936, the aircraft was new and Lowery's squadron was being re-equipped with it. In either case Gannet can obviously not refer to the carrier borne Fairey Gannet anti-submarine aircraft of the 1960s, nor is there any amphibian or flying boat with this name during the interwar years. Hence it is a fictional name. The Bristol Hercules engine was only first run in 1936 and began production in 1939. Therefore, writing in 1935 for Biggles Hits the Trail, could not have been thinking of the Bristol Hercules. Perhaps he was refering to an earlier Bristol engine named after a mythological character and decided to tweak a litle by giving it a different name and just happened to hit the name which the Bristol company would later use. A number of candidates are possible. All fit the descriptions in some way and contradict the descriptions in other ways. Their pros and cons will be discussed below. Saunders Roe London Pros *A plausible candidate, this had its first flight in 1934 and entered service in 1936 and so would just have been entering production in 1935. *It had two Bristol Pegasus engine--an engine named after a mythological character. Cons *It had fabric covered wings and tails and was not of all-metal construction. *Its engines were mounted on the top wing and not in between the planes. *Never served in Singapore. Short Singapore III Pros *First flew in 1934 and started equipping R.A.F. squadrons in 1935, so plausible *No. 205 Squadron in Singapore was being re-equipped with the appropriately named Short Singapore III in 1935 and it was the only flying boat squadron there at the time. Fits Lowery's squadron. *Engines are mounted in between the planes. *Metal hull, wing had metal structure but covered with fabric. Cons *The engines are Rolls-Royce Kestrels. *There are actually four engines, but grouped into two nacelles in a push/pull format. Supermarine Scapa Pros *First flight in 1932, introduced into squadron service 1935, so plausible. *Metal hull, wings and tail had metal structure but covered with fabric. Cons *Engines mounted on top wing. *The engines are Rolls-Royce Kestrels. In fact, with two of them, the Scapa is a good candidate for the "Storm" amphibian which Biggles used in Air Commodore. The Scapa couldn't have been a "Storm" and a "Gannet" at the same time! Category:Aircraft Category:Needs photo Category:Fictional aircraft Category:Aircraft which Biggles flew Category:Aircraft which Biggles flew (canon) Category:Aircraft (canonical works)